29 April 2009

We've put a huge effort in during the last couple of weeks clearing the lawn and preparing for it to be turfed. The turf arrived this morning and although we were nearly ready for it we still had a lot of soil to shift before we could put the turf down. By the time we were ready for the turf it was already pouring with rain, but we both wanted to get on with it so we stayed outside. William gave us more support in the rain for around 15 minutes and then decided that we were crazy and came indoors.

This is the garden 6 weeks ago on an equally miserable day:

After the gravel had been removed and the old grass cleared:

Yesterday, Ian having dug over the soil in an attempt to level it:

This evening we removed all the large pieces of clay and then raked it over, but it was too wet at that point to get a photo. This is how it looked when the ground finally got too soggy to continue:

25 April 2009

We've spent a lot of time deciding what the paths in our garden should be made of. We've considered grass, decking boards, bark, gravel, slate and stone. Finally we made a decision for the path that goes round the back of the pond - yellow bricks. Today Ian helped me remove the rest of the grass and then I started to lay the bricks. They're a little bit wobbly as I haven't found anything to push the soil down the cracks between them yet, but I think it's going to be a lovely path.

17 April 2009

Ever since I first watched the annual country music awards in the mid 1990s I've been a big fan of modern country music. I only manage to catch the awards show on television every 2 or 3 years, but until now it has been my main source of information on new artists. When I see new artists, most of them were born in the 60's and 70's and have been singing for a couple of decades, but they're very rarely mentioned over here in the UK.

In the past I have subscribed to various music sites so that I could try new music and play albums that I don't own. Having recently cancelled my subscription I had a look around and found last.fm - a wonderful free site for playing music. You can type in your favourite artist and then get a constant stream of songs by similar artists. This has been wonderful for my country music education and already I have found some new artists that I really like - Deana Carter, Jo dee messina, Lila McCann, Blake Shelton & Julie Roberts.

I'd definitely recommend trying last.fm and for anyone interested in country music the film Walk the Line is a must-see.